Every week we review the nastiest pitches from the previous week in glorious HD GIFs. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite pitch and check back Saturday to see if it will be in contention for the GIF of the First Half Contest. Week 4’s winner was Blake Treinen’s Slider.
Did we miss your favorite pitch? Send us a tweet next time @PitcherList and we’ll GIF it up + give you a shoutout here in the article.
This week’s array of captivating pitches is dominated by fastballs with high velocity and sharp movement. Is Luis Severino painting the black at 99 MPH most impressive? Or is the sharp movement of Tayron Guerrero’s fastball the best of the bunch? Or maybe Adam Ottavino’s two-plane slider is better? Pick one and check back next Saturday to see which pitch carried the week.
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Aroldis Chapman’s Fastball – Chapman makes another appearance on our list, this time bringing 102 mile per hour cheese with late run to gas Evan Gattis. Nasty.
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Luis Severino’s Fastball – 99 MPH paint on the outside isn’t even fair. It’s no wonder Severino logged his first career complete game AND shutout against the lethal Astros lineup. He was plain filthy. (Thanks to @Low_rax for the tip!)
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Aroldis Chapman’s Fastball – It’s physically impossible to throw a rise ball. That may be hard for you to believe after seeing this 100 mile per hour heat from Chapman that climbs up and out of the zone. Wow.
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Kyle Freeland’s Slider – Javier Baez almost got hit in the ankle by this filthy slider that started near the outside corner and ended up about midway in the batter’s box. Good night on that one!
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Brandon Morrow’s Fastball – For the second time in three days, Morrow’s tailing, high-90s fastball punched his ticket to a spot on this list. Here, he obliterated Travis Shaw’s hopes and dreams at 98 MPH.
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Tayron Guerrero’s Fastball – Good lord, 101 MPH heat is too much as it is. Can you imagine trying to hit it when it has late movement as well? Ryan McMahon didn’t stand a chance. Filthy, filthy stuff from Guerrero.
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Adam Ottavino’s Slider – How can anyone resist lunging at this pitch? It looks like it’s following the swing plane until it just keeps breaking away. Miami’s Brian Anderson had no shot on this slider as he left two runners hanging the eighth inning of a tight one-run game. No worries, Adam. We’ll never get sick of you here. Make yourself at home.
GIF Of The Week
Which was your favorite pitch? Vote below and the winner will be featured in the GIF of the First Half Contest.
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